China's AI Ambitions on Display at World Artificial Intelligence Conference

The coming World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) is set to feature major new product releases, such as Huawei Technologies’ next-generation computing cluster, as China doubles down on AI in the global technology race.

This year’s WAIC, the ninth since 2018 and running from July 17 to 20 in Shanghai, would include the first physical display of Huawei’s Atlas 950 SuperPoD, Tang Wenkan, director of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Informatisation, said at a press briefing on Tuesday.

Huawei initially unveiled the computing cluster, powered by 8,192 Ascend neural processing unit (NPU) cards, last year. The product is optimised for AI neural networks and machine learning tasks and applications.

Debuting at the conference would also be what Tang described as “the world’s first AI agent phone”, without naming the developer. Other highlights would include MiniMax’s M3 multimodal model, an agent operating system from StepFun, and a near-memory computing 3D chip from Dongfang Suanxin, as well as new humanoid robots and dexterous robotic hands.

WAIC would also cover frontier industry topics such as world models, open-source agents, AI coding, the token economy and one-person companies that use AI to replace staff, Tang said.

China’s shipments of AI phones and computers in 2025 surpassed 100 million units, and the segment is expected to overtake non-AI gadgets this year, said Wang Ruomeng, an official from the National Development and Reform Commission.